1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a system for automatically capturing data at the point of transaction and storing that data in the appropriate database(s), and more particularly, to a data transaction processing system including a transaction entry device which can selectively operate in a telephone mode and a transaction entry mode. In the telephone mode, the transaction entry device operates as a conventional telephone. However, in the transaction entry mode, menus are used to navigate the user to forms which facilitate the entry of data. The entered data and forms together form data transactions which are transmitted to one or more databases for processing and storage. The database(s) also xe2x80x9cexplodesxe2x80x9d the data transactions into their component parts and transmits those component parts to still other databases for processing and storage so that the data in the data transactions automatically updates all current database items affected by such data.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The telephone has become an increasingly versatile instrument. The functionality of telephones has been expanded by incorporating the functions of answering machines, facsimile machines, and the like. Point-of-entry systems have also been developed which incorporate computer processing capabilities into conventional telephones. For example, a computer/telephone apparatus is described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,195,130, 5,008,927, and 4,991,199 which configures a telephone as a programmable microcomputer which is operated through the standard telephone 12-key keypad. A programmable gate array is reconfigured to accommodate various types of software which require different hardware configurations but without actually reconfiguring the hardware. The reconfiguration data is received from a network host computer and is used by the programmable microcomputer to emulate the hardware of any of a plurality of service bureaus which communicate with the network host computer. In this manner, the telephone/computer is configured to communicate data to/from any of a number of different service bureaus via conventional telephone lines.
However, telephone/computer systems of the type described in the afore-mentioned patents are typically quite complicated and expensive and are limited by the types of operating software which can be downloaded from the network host computer. Also, such telephone/computer systems are relatively slow since the microcomputer must be reconfigured before it will permit communication with the requested service bureau. Because of these characteristic features, such telephone/computer systems are typically used in public locations and are not efficient for creating point-of-entry transactions in typical commercial or private settings. A point-of-entry transaction system is desired which does not have such limitations and which is operating system independent.
Elimination of the requirement of a conventional operating system and the associated application programs for the microcomputer of a data entry device would greatly decrease the cost of such a device. However, to date, this has not been possible because the operating system is needed to run the application programs which control the data communications and together handle discrete parts of the system. Unfortunately, such application programs require substantial amounts of local memory and substantial processing power for performing the desired functions. Also, the operating systems themselves tend to be quite costly to purchase and maintain.
Accordingly, a data entry system is desired which does not have the inherent limitations of conventional point-of-entry systems such as the requirement of a standard operating system for communication with a remote service bureau or file server. A data entry device and associated system is desired which performs a minimal amount of processing at the data entry device so that the data entry device may be as simple and inexpensive as possible, thereby bringing the cost of such a device into a range suitable for most commercial and private uses. It is also preferable that such a data entry device provide a wide range of functionality without requiring a local operating system program and a plurality of applications programs for implementing each function. The present invention has been designed to meet these needs.
The system which meets the above-mentioned needs in the art includes a transaction entry device that permits the user to organize and control all aspects of his or her personal transactions as well as any transactions that may occur in an office setting. In its simplest terms, the transaction entry device formats input data into a data transaction having content which is dependent upon the type of application to which the associated data pertains. These data transactions are then transferred to a local or remote database server which xe2x80x9cexplodesxe2x80x9d each data transaction into its component parts for updating all databases containing data to which the data in the component parts pertain. In this xe2x80x9ctransaction entry modexe2x80x9d the transaction entry device of the invention functions as a multi-purpose workstation. However, since the data transactions are created without the use of an operating system or application programs, the transaction entry device is quite simple and inexpensive and may be readily integrated with the customer""s desktop telephone or portable telephone.
The present invention combines computer technology and telephone technology to allow transaction data to be captured at the point of initiation of the transaction. The transaction entry device is integrated into a conventional telephone which acts as either a normal telephone in a telephone mode or as a transaction entry device in a transaction entry mode. When in telephone mode, the telephone operates in a conventional manner. However, when in transaction entry mode, the transaction entry device is driven by a microprocessor which is, in turn, driven by an operating system independent transaction assembly (or application) server (TAS) comprised of data streams stored in a flash PROM. The TAS is absolutely self-contained in its relationship to the hardware of the transaction entry device and in general performs the two basic functions of (1) generating a template or form from a data stream and (2) developing a data transaction as the user inputs data in response to prompts in the template or form. The template is a series of data streams read from a local flash memory or transmitted directly from an external source such as a database file server.
During operation, the data entered by the user in response to prompts in the template are accumulated into data transactions which are immediately transmitted to an external database server. Unlike typical prior art systems, the data transactions are not locally stored for processing by the local microprocessor once the data transaction has been completed. On the contrary, the only required storage in the transaction entry device is a flash PROM for storing the TAS firmware, a flash memory for storing the data streams used by the TAS firmware to complete a form and the modem numbers for the remote database servers, and a small RAM which operates as an input/output transaction buffer for storing the data streams of the template and the user replies to the prompts in the template during assembly of a data transaction. The transaction buffer(s) only needs to be as large as the largest data transaction since it only stores the form until the entire data transaction is completed. In this sense, the transaction entry device serves as an assembly point for specific transactions until they are ready for transmission to an external database server for processing and storage.
The data transaction formed by the transaction entry device is transmitted via modem to a local or remote database server for processing and storage. The data transaction is received via standard protocols at the database server which, depending upon the application, stores the entire data transaction, explodes the data transaction to produce ancillary records which are then stored, and/or forwards the data transaction or some or all of the ancillary records to other database servers for updating other databases associated with those database servers. Also, in response to requests from the transaction entry device, any of the database servers may send data streams back to the transaction entry device for use in completing the fields in the data transaction or in displaying new forms or menus for selection.
Thus, the data transaction system of the invention comprises at least three tiers: a first tier for capturing the data transaction from the user, where the data transaction has a one-to-many relationship to file structures; a second tier for exploding the data transaction into its component parts on a system-specific basis so that each component part has a one-to-one correspondence with a file; and a third tier for providing additional explosions of the data transactions on an application-specific basis so that each application has its own set of data transactions.
A preferred embodiment of the transaction entry device of the invention resembles a conventional telephone except that it includes a touch screen and an optional keyboard for data entry in addition to the conventional numeric and function keypad inputs. A telephone handset or headset is optional and may be replaced by a microphone and speaker. The transaction entry device of the invention also includes RS-232 and other input/output ports for accommodating other options such as a wireless (RF) receiver, a magnetic card and/or smart card reader, a video camera and video display, infrared controllers, and the like. The telephone preferably has normal touch-tone functions as well as mobile and cellular options.
Preferably, the transaction entry device contains a microprocessor such as an Intel 80386SX or higher, one megabyte of flash memory for dynamically storing the data streams for the templates, one megabyte of flash PROM for storing the TAS firmware, and a 128 kB RAM which functions as a transaction buffer for storing the data streams of the templates and the user responses until completion of the data transaction. A graphics display screen is also provided for displaying the templates to the user for the entry of the data which will form the data transactions. Preferably, the graphics display screen is on the order of 24 lines by 40 characters for a desktop unit and 12 lines by 40 characters for a cellular unit.
The transaction assembly (application) server (TAS) guides the user to the desired template via menu selections, where the menus and templates are stored in flash memory as data streams and are called up by the TAS firmware when selected by the user. Generally, the menus are treated as a special type of template or form. The templates stored in the flash memory may be updated at any time to handle particular applications by reading in a new data set which has been created off-line and downloaded via modem or direct connection to the flash memory of the transaction entry device. Alternatively, the data may be downloaded to an RS-232 input. The same connections may be used to provide an automatic read from a remote database or an automatic write to a remote database. New applications may be added simply by adding additional flash memory elements containing the necessary templates for the new application.
The telephone/transaction entry device and the associated system for storing transaction data in accordance with the invention is unique in that it separates the user from the database and provides a simple, user friendly way to enter transaction data without requiring a local operating system to run various application programs. Since all data is entered as data transactions determined by templates tailored to particular applications, the user applications may be generalized so that no unique user application programs need to be written when a new application is added. However, if code is needed, or if a multimedia element is to be included in a data transaction, it can be appended to a data transaction as an additional parameter stream in the stream of data forming the data transaction. Also, since the nature of the data in the respective fields of the templates for particular applications is known in advance, the interface to a database server to permit storage of the data transactions and their component parts in the appropriate databases in the appropriate formats for each database becomes trivial.
In an alternative implementation of the invention, a process may be selected from the menu of the transaction entry device which creates a xe2x80x9cvisiblexe2x80x9d menu corresponding to a voice mail menu of a remote phone mail system. When such a process is selected, the telephone or modem interface makes a telephone connection to the remote phone mail system, and, once the connection is made, the data transaction assembler sends a data request for a visual representation of the phone mail menu of the remote phone mail system via the telephone connection to the remote phone mail system. A data stream containing the visual representation of the phone mail menu from the remote phone mail system is then returned via the telephone connection and stored in a memory of the transaction entry device for presentation to the display screen of the transaction entry device 12. When the desired phone mail menu option is selected from the xe2x80x9cvisiblexe2x80x9d voice mail menu, the data transaction assembler creates a data transaction indicating which menu item was selected and sends the data transaction to the remote phone mail system via the telephone connection. Based on the menu selection, the remote phone mail system then returns a data stream containing a visual representation of the next phone mail menu via the telephone connection for storage and display. This process is repeated until the calling party is required to leave a message or the called party is reached.